06/11/2023
💧The Water Method 💧
I have been doing a little more miscarriage support from afar again, and I thought I’d share again about the *The Water Method* which is a way to preserve a tiny baby after miscarriage or stillbirth for a little while.
💧Birthing a baby too early, before the age of viability or after an intrauterine death is usually very distressing, of course.
💧 One way of saying goodbye to the tiny one can be meeting and touching and spending time with them.
This is often difficult as immediately after birth, fluid loss from the tiny body makes their skin very friable and easily damaged, so touching becomes very precarious, and people are often very fearful of it.
💧The little one also changes appearance very drastically, very quickly, and this can leave far too little time for a meaningful goodbye.
💧Another issue is that sometimes these little, far too early babies are born almost red in colour which can be shocking and difficult to process.
💧 The Water Immersion Method can help with all these issues. Essentially, once the baby is born, it’s simply immersed in cold tap water.
💧 A clear receptacle/plastic or glass bowl helps making the baby as easily visible as possible, a red or blue container makes it a lot harder.
💧 The baby can be kept in the water for a few days even, or until whatever ceremony/funeral/burial is planned. The water can be changed out as needed.
♥️ The advantages of the Water Method are multiple:
💧the baby adopts a natural position and floats in the water weightlessly almost
💧 it is easier to clean blood and loose tissue away from the baby without causing damage
💧 skin and tissue tend to plump up again, and skin colour lightens which makes it possible to really notice tiny physical details of the baby and maybe get beautiful photographs
💧 touching the baby and exploring their bodies is much easier this way
💧 siblings or other family/friends often find it easier to meet the baby this way
💧 it is ok to take the baby out of the water carefully, perhaps for a cuddle or pictures, as long as there is some plastic between the baby’s skin and any cloth it might be wrapped in (cloth tends to stick to the very friable skin and may cause damage)
💧 this method is suitable for all gestations
💧 it is relatively unused in the UK, but very common in other countries, for example the Netherlands and Germany as far as I know.
💧this is incredibly easy to do as a parent and simply facilitated by a midwife
💧 A beautiful soul has sent me some pictures of her little ones, both born far too early, both preserved with the Water Method, and this is what you can see in the pictures.
💧 The first photo is a tiny one who passed away at 12 weeks and was born at 15+2.
💧The second and third photos are a baby that passed at 18/19 weeks and was born at 19+5.
💧 There are LOTS more pictures and information in the links below, I hope this might turn out helpful for some.
♥️ This is a really important subject and I hope that this can help break the silence and taboo around pregnancies that ended far too soon, or babies that didn’t live.
♥️ These little ones existed and are remembered with much love and sadness by MANY of us ♥️
More reading:
www.watermethode.nl
https://www.watermethode.nl/Professionals/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Watermethode-artikel-Engels-vertaald2.pdf
🔴(I have consciously not used a trigger warning for many different reasons.)
OP: Deborah Neiger
Independent Midwife
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